Ralph Willis - Hop On Down The Line: (Almost) Complete Recordings

This CD set is unusually titled "The Almost Complete Recordings" that's because one of Ralph Willis' commercially released discs seems to have rarely if ever surfaced amongst collectors. The two sides have also never appeared on vinyl LP and CD or any other Ralph Willis collection even those entitled "Complete". This release is an essential purchase for any Ralph Willis fan as it is now the only place to find all of his known recordings, He has a highly distinctive style and sound which makes it difficult to understand how he never had a hit. This collection contains 47 tracks so he must have been a popular artist to generate that much repertoire without a hit. His 1953 recording, "Gonna Hop on Down the Line" is probably Willis' best known recording. For several years now, it has been a huge disc at rock and roll and rockabilly dances across Europe and is a guaranteed floor filler. Ralph Willis is one of those unique Blues artists whose guitar style and vocal delivery on up tempo numbers seems to predict the coming of the rockabilly guitar styles.